Bears training camp: 3 Most important position battles in Chicago

2. Right Guard – Germain Ifedi vs. Rashaad Coward vs. Alex Bars

The offensive line was arguably the most disappointing unit on the Chicago Bears. Injuries played a big part in that, however. The entire right side of the line was decimated and the replacements just couldn’t step up and perform well enough to help the offense. The Bears’ running backs couldn’t do anything on that side of the line and late in the season the offense basically stopped running to that side.

In the offseason, right guard Kyle Long retired. That left a gaping hole on the line. Long was the heart and soul of the offensive line. Now, it’s up to Cody Whitehair to be the leader the line needs. However, who replaces Long on the field?

Rashaad Coward ended up being the starter in Long’s place last season. The problem with having him start is that he is a converted defensive lineman. He was supposed to be eased into the position. Instead, he was thrown in as the starter.

Coward received on the job training. Despite struggling in 2019, he can take that experience into the battle in 2020. He has a better understanding of what he needs to do and how fast defensive players are coming at him. He should be a better player than he was last season.

Alex Bars was a promising lineman at Notre Dame. Some scouts graded him as a second-round prospect before he tore his ACL/MCL in his senior season. He spent most of the season on the practice squad trying to strengthen his knee before the Bears put him on the main roster late in the season. He is fully healthy now, but he may just be in the backup plan for now.

The Bears went out and signed free agent Germain Ifedi. He was the Seattle Seahawks’ first-round pick (31st overall) in 2016. He came in as a right guard but with his size, the Seahawks moved him over to right tackle, despite his successful rookie season at guard.

The move to tackle didn’t work very well for Ifedi. He has the size at 6-5, 325 pounds. He doesn’t have the quickness to play out on the edge, though. He got beat many times and he started to get handsy trying to slow pass rushers. As a result, he got called for a lot of penalties.

With the Bears, Ifedi is back at right guard. The team hopes he repeats the success he had there. He can use his size and strength to move bodies back and open holes for the running backs. He could end up being David Montgomery’s best friend.

The growing idea is that Ifedi wins the starting job. He has experience and success there. Head coach Matt Nagy spoke on the competition with the media recently. He didn’t say anything too specific about the battle but his words sort of signaled who is the leader.

"We just see that as a competition where you got a guy with a lot of experience in Germain Ifedi versus a guy (Rashaad Coward) with not as much experience. But two really good guys that we have a  lot of belief in."

With Bars and Coward backing up, the Bears have more depth and should have a better offensive line than they had last season.